Pitch Lake [Hardcover]

Alfred Hubert Mendes (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Periodicals Service Co (June 1987)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0811530108
• ISBN-13: 978-0811530101
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,429,467 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Rare and Authentic Portrait of Pre-war Trinidad, June 6, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Pitch Lake (Hardcover)

As Aldous Huxley points out in his introduction to 'Pitch Lake',"books about the tropics are generally written by people who do not live in the countries they describe". As one who lived in the West Indies during the time period of this novel, I can attest that Trinidadian Alfred Mendes has created an authentic picture of the life in Port of Spain, Trinidad in the 30s, -before the war, when the island was a Crown Colony of the still-intact British Empire; before the ready money of American war bases; before independence. It was before multiculturalism became a popular concept, yet the British, East Indian, Chinese, French, Portugese and Dutch who made up the population of the island lived the concept daily, with all the challenges that implies. Mendes subtly depicts the easy life style of the tropics, complicated as it always was in those days, by distinctions of class and colour. There's a Jane-Austin-like quality in Mendes' examination of the mundane events of everyday life with the added aspect of emotiional intensity that seems to be caused by the relentless tropical heat which, though seldom mentioned, is always in the background as a silent player. As one might expect, Mendes' use of language is one his most powerfully evocative tools for creating the West Indian atmosphere. It may be that only those who know the islands will hear the cadences. But for those who can remember Frederick Street and the Savannah and the keskidees in the morning, this book will generate many memories.